Isaiah Stewart’s punch on Drew Eubanks’ face before Suns-Pistons, explained

Detroit Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart punched Phoenix Suns center Drew Eubanks in the face during a parking lot altercation before the two teams squared off on Wednesday night in Phoenix. Stewart was arrested for assault, charged with a citation, and released by Phoenix police. The investigation into the incident remains active, according to police.

Eubanks suffered a “minor injury” according to the police report, but played in the game anyway. Stewart has been out of the lineup for the Pistons with a sprained ankle. The Suns beat the Pistons, 116-100.

Update: Stewart has been suspended three games by the NBA.

Eubanks and Stewart were testy with each other during a Nov. 5 matchup between the two teams in Detroit, and the bad blood carried over to Wednesday night. The two players reportedly got chest-to-chest during an argument and Stewart threw a punch. Security intervened before Stewart was arrested.

Here’s Eubanks’ side of the story, via ArizonaSports:

“Basically we were walking in, words were said and we got face-to-face, and then (Stewart) just sucker-punched me,” Eubanks said in the locker room pregame.

What sparked the argument? According to Eubanks, it was “just basketball shit.”

The Suns called the punch “unprovoked” in a statement:

After the game, Pistons coach Monty Williams — who was head coach in Phoenix for years before accepting the Detroit job this past summer — took exception with Phoenix calling it “unprovoked.”

Here’s Williams’ quote on the incident, via ESPN:

“The thing is to get all of the information. The NBA will do an investigation,” Williams said. “For me to come here and make a statement would be a bit irresponsible. I know the Suns said it was unprovoked; I think that is irresponsible for sure. You really don’t know.

“That did not need to happen. There is a time for the information to be gathered, and then you can make a statement.”

The pre-game incident made tensions high before the game, and the officials were on alert. Suns star Devin Booker was ejected for making a comment to the officials. This sure seems like a soft ejection, but the refs didn’t want anything from the Eubanks-Stewart beef to bleed onto the court.

Suns star Kevin Durant had his own thoughts on Booker’s ejection:

“Yeah it did, because he was talking to me,” Durant said. “I guess (Booker) said something that ticked the ref off, but they were on edge before the game anyway because of the situation and they thought it might escalate. I can see it from their perspective, but I just think the techs were too quick.”

Stewart famously beefed with LeBron James during a game two years ago.

Here’s a picture of Eubanks before the game. He doesn’t appear to have a black eye:

Here’s the latest update from NBA insider Shams Charania. He says the two exchanged words, Stewart dropped his bags and hit Eubanks in the mouth. Eubanks barely flinched after the punch, according to Shams.

The NBA will review the incident, according to The Athletic.